Industrial corridors to benefit backward districts in north Karnataka

The Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor and Bangalore-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which have found a mention in the Union Budget, will not only provide port connectivity to industries here but also benefit industrially backward districts in north Karnataka.

World-class connectivity

“Though the corridor to Chennai may not benefit industries in Karnataka much, it will provide world-class connectivity to a port (Chennai) in the Bay of Bengal. However, the corridor to Mumbai is set to benefit a large number of districts in north Karnataka besides providing connectivity to a port (Mumbai) in the Arabian Sea,” L. Krishnan, chairman of the Karnataka State Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), told The Hindu.

While initial studies are under way on the corridor to Chennai, which is being backed by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, studies are to take off on the corridor to Mumbai.

Both the corridors have attracted international attention as Japan has already expressed its interest in both of them and British Prime Minister David Cameron, during his recent visit, evinced interest in the corridor to Mumbai.

Once implemented, the industrial corridors would result in world-class tolled road, high-speed rail link and centres along the corridor would develop as industrial clusters. Normally, it takes about five to 10 years for a corridor to develop well from the conceptualisation stage.

Terming the corridor model as a “well-trusted” one, Mr. Krishnan said, “These corridors will decongest Bangalore, and industries can be located in industrially backward districts in north Karnataka that have sizeable non-agricultural land.”

A warning

However, managing director of Bangalore-based Volvo India Pvt. Ltd. A.M. Muralidharan said the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor was not progressing as fast as it was predicted earlier.

A good planned intitaive to have the Mumbai Bangalore Chennai corridor. This corridor will open up development potentials in South Maharashtra, Konkan, Goa, North Karnataka and Tamilnadu. The current North Karnataka, historically has been part of three Presidency's namely Bombay, Hyderabad and Mysore. The deep rooted divisions can only be bridged through planned investments to promote economic development either through tourism, industrial development, integrated townships and ofcourse infrastructure. It will ample employment opportunites for the youth and attarct business centres in this sub region. It would appropriate to establish a regional development board covering Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa quite early similar to the National Capital Region (NCR) around Delhi. Else random, unplanned and haphazard development will emerge. At a later date it would be complex and tedious and a heavy cost on land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement.